Russell, I swear I saw a smile on your face and Mrs B. definitely gets my vote for best sing a long of the day with her support to Bill on "New England".

Same old problem with Bill though - if he would only cut the chat he could fit in an extra couple of tunes.

Can't wait to catch Arcade Fire in a proper venue sometime soon. The hype about their live performances was right on the mark.

Agree about the poor scheduling at that time. Did the organisers not realise the A. Fire and Battles were likely to have similar fans?

It's the one constant problem with the BDO - poor scheduling. If they're going to continue with a diversity of acts, they need to group like with like rather than mix the likes of A. Fire and Bjork with RATM and Shihad, etc, etc. It leads to a mismatching of fans to the detriment of many including the artists.

Undoubtedly, it's a result of small market and trying to pack in as much as possible in a single day.

Did the organisers not realise the A. Fire and Battles were likely to have similar fans?

I think they probably did, as the two bands were originally scheduled at different times, until Tom Morello wanted more time between his acoustic set and the main Rage Against The Machine act. Or so I heard.

As for t-shirts, social semiotics and counter-hegemony: seven or eight years ago I saw a young woman in the University of Auckland quad with a t-shirt that read 'Your lunch is in my pants.'

Craig, the potty mouth obscures your interesting points.You don't have to refer to genitalia or sex acts in every message ...

Every message? Putting that aside, chockasunday, I'll take the rebuke in the spirit in which it is offered.

Here's two things to contemplate.

If its any comfort, when I attend children's birthday parties (or social gatherings in general) my taste in T-shirt runs to plain white or basic black cotton. PA System is an 'opt-in' experience, and my comments are rather easy to scroll past if folks find their language or content offensive. A childishly provocative T-shirt in public is not quite the same thing. (And sod the "social semiotics", any woman who is going to put 'whore' or 'porn star' or 'I fucked your boyfriend last night' isn't going to get my respect -- though I very much doubt she cares. Nor do I expect a very friendly reaction, or indulgence for a media studies seminar, if I pull on a T with the legend Muhammed/Buddha/Jehovah/Helen Clark/Ed Hillary is a C**t.)

I saw Cloverfield again last night -- taking a couple of asprin first -- and find my potty mouth a damn sight less offensive than sitting through the trailers for Aliens V. Predator (I've read gore geeks getting their squee on over a scene where a pregnant woman is disemboweled!) and the latest entry in the Saw torture-pron franchise (sat through the first and came out feeling psychically slimed. Just walked out of Hostel.)

I may be a foul-mouthed little troll, but at least my comments here don't get off on relentless sadism and the pretty much unquestioned notion that human sexuality is such a vile thing its an invitation to be stalked and graphically mutilated then hacked to pieces.

I think they probably did, as the two bands were originally scheduled at different times, until Tom Morello wanted more time between his acoustic set and the main Rage Against The Machine act. Or so I heard.

They should have just cancelled him. Hell, why did they even book him? That was awful, quite literally the worst thing I've ever seen at a gig I've paid more than $5 for. We were taking refuge from the heat and Grinspoon up at Billy Bragg and caught the start of his set. I'd figured out in advance that Tom Morello with an acoustic guitar would probably not be a good thing, but I didn't realise it would be quite that awful.

Having said that the 'announcement trailer' for the 'Star Trek' prequel is still hella cool -- just old school enough to keep the Trekkies quiet (for now), but with a rather neat twist. chockasunday might be pleased to know the Enterprise is entirely the wrong shape so no smutty reference. :)

Let's just hope Karl Urban can manage 'I'm a doctor not a..." without disgracing himself -- its a matter of national pride and self-preservation. Either this works all along the line, or everyone involved is going to be staying away from the internet for the rest of their lives.

[the personal bit] kia ora Jake...how goes Pittsburgh? Haven't been to see your folks in Helensville for a while, but I intend to.

One of the funniest things I heard at BDO was a conversation on the 2pm bus from Real Groovy to the venue. Two Kiwi males were explaining to a couple of non-local males why it was called Mt. Smart Stadium, "It's because only really intelligent people go there!' I have used this in my piece on BDO, to appear in the Feb issue of kiwiboomers.com

Sigh – Sad to have missed BDO but a baby shaped partner, heat and serious crowds suggested that our best move was to stay down south. The fact that BB wasn’t on good form really isn’t much consolation.

T-shirts – In keeping with my strange youth, my mum came back from Spain with two t-shirts; One had fuck in all its conjunctions written all over it, the other did the same with shit. She may have been drunk when she bought them but she was definitely sober when she gave them to me. I gave up on the fuck one after a while; it just wasn’t much fun being that offensive all the time (nb. this was twenty years ago now). Can’t help feeling that when the words are just used as words the gulf between legitimate expression and tokenism gets wider and wider. I worry about a generation caught in the vacuum of a fashionistas search for fulfilment. I guess I’m the only one who would find a tee shirt with Old C**t on the front and Old Coot on the back fun.

Cloverfield – beginning to feel really old now, went to see a preview showing, walked out with the usual handycam headache and the feeling that the whole thing was contrived/missed the point of the medium. Has anyone really done anything useful with sex and violence since Clockwork Orange ?

There is a very cute little clip somewhere on youtube of a guy at last year's BDO, turning his tshirt right way out. He'd worn it inside out so as not to offend anybody on the way in. It said 'how about a nice hot cup of shut the fuck up'.

I guess I’m the only one who would find a tee shirt with Old C**t on the front and Old Coot on the back fun.

Probably not, but I'd leave it at home come the next PA System barbie. I can't imagine bing given a F2F ticking off by Deborah, Emma, Robin, Jackie, Fiona and Tze Ming would end anywhere except behind the couch, curled up in the fetal position and twitching. :)

And I'm quite a fan of clothes covered in 'Japlish' -- though they tend to be more surreal than unintentionally kinky. And before anyone pings me for being ever-so-slightly condescending and racist, I'll admit I won't be visiting Japan until my language skills are rudimentary rather than non-existent.

There is a very cute little clip somewhere on youtube of a guy at last year's BDO, turning his tshirt right way out. He'd worn it inside out so as not to offend anybody on the way in. It said 'how about a nice hot cup of shut the fuck up'.

Heh... words to live by. :) Last night at the movie, I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said 'My anger management course is really f***ing me off' (asterisks in original) which was sorta funny in a cringe-inducing way, if that makes any sense at all.

And if you're really a sucker for punishment, as a good market liberal, there's a company called Foul Mouth Shirts that deserves a prize for truth in advertising, if nothing else. I considered posting a link, but even Russell has limits. Google it yourself, and be warned the site is definitely not NSFW and even made me blush. Really makes my 'Dykes for Bush '04' tee look like church-wear.

Last night at the movie, I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said 'My anger management course is really f***ing me off' (asterisks in original) which was sorta funny in a cringe-inducing way, if that makes any sense at all.

Yeah, I think the key is, if you're going to be offensive, you MUST also be funny. That's the difference between good standup and bad standup in a nutshell.

I can't imagine bing given a F2F ticking off by Deborah, Emma, Robin, Jackie, Fiona and Tze Ming would end anywhere except behind the couch, curled up in the fetal position and twitching. :)

Meh. I'm not big on being offended by profanity. Either they're not trying to be offensive, and don't deserve it, or they ARE trying to be offensive, and shouldn't get the satisfaction. Our children both use a phrase we all picked up off a good friend of ours in response to swearing: "Oooo! He said the fuck word!"

But anyone who uses the word 'gay' in my house better be referring to a homosexual, otherwise they're going to be asked to step outside. Not for a fight, just so I can shut the door when them on the other side.

Last night at the movie, I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said 'My anger management course is really f***ing me off' (asterisks in original) which was sorta funny in a cringe-inducing way, if that makes any sense at all.

I can't imagine ever being offended by something written on a t-shirt, but I was a bit creeped out in the local slum-mall last year seeing a huge red-faced, grim mouthed munter in farming type gear and a t-shirt that said "If you knew what I was thinking, you wouldn't be smiling...".

He certainly didn't look like a bloke whose thoughts I needed to share.

But anyone who uses the word 'gay' in my house better be referring to a homosexual, otherwise they're going to be asked to step outside. Not for a fight, just so I can shut the door when them on the other side.